St Patrick’s College
Honest, conversational poem relays his experiences as a child at school where he felt for eight years as if he never belonged
Personal recollections describe a school boy who never feels as if he belongs -simile poignantly represents his alienation
Repetition of the line “For eight years” in two of the middle stanzas implies that his time at school was an imposed, unpleasant time.
Pointed absence of any mention of connections with friends or teachers
Skryznecki’s sense of failure at school is conveyed by the symbolic use of darkness that surrounds him in the third last line
First time we encounter his mother’s perspective -what it takes to ensure that your child belongs in a new land and to the right social milieu
Warm relationship with father conveyed through the first poem absent when he is referring to his mother -repetition of the noun “Mother” is detached and formal
Personal recollections describe a school boy who never feels as if he belongs -simile poignantly represents his alienation
Repetition of the line “For eight years” in two of the middle stanzas implies that his time at school was an imposed, unpleasant time.
Pointed absence of any mention of connections with friends or teachers
Skryznecki’s sense of failure at school is conveyed by the symbolic use of darkness that surrounds him in the third last line
First time we encounter his mother’s perspective -what it takes to ensure that your child belongs in a new land and to the right social milieu
Warm relationship with father conveyed through the first poem absent when he is referring to his mother -repetition of the noun “Mother” is detached and formal